Thai culture facts

The Hanoitimes - The Thai Deputy Prime Minister, Tanasak Patimapragorn, has expressed his satisfaction at Vietnam-Thailand relations and stressed good prospects for cooperation among ASEAN. The Thai Deputy Prime Minister made the remarks at the meeting with President Tran Dai Quang in Hanoi on July 28, who is in Vietnam to attend the “Thai Cultural Days” programme marking the 40th anniversary of the bilateral diplomatic ties (August 6). President Tran Dai Quang has affirmed that Vietnam’s consistent policy of attaching importance to the strategic partnership with Thailand and expressed his wish for the ties to have new progresses. He used the occasion to thank Thailand for its 100,000 USD aid package to support Vietnam’s southern localities struck by drought and saltwater intrusion.
President Tran Dai Quang and Thai Deputy Prime Minister Tanasak Patimapragorn
The leader suggested the two countries step up their bilateral cooperation as well as their … [Read more...] about Thai Deputy Prime Minister hails ties with Vietnam

Thanh Nien Newspaper’s representatives on Saturday met with Thailand’s Matichon Group's representatives to discuss details of a bilateral cooperation agreement signed in Bangkok last November.
Addressing the meeting at Thanh Nien's building in Ho Chi Minh City, Vo Khoi, Chief Managing Editor of Thanh Nien, said the two sides would continue discussing the cooperation in three sectors: information exchange, advertisement collaboration and co-organizing economic forums.
Khoi stressed that the partnership between Matichon and Thanh Nien is a special event of Vietnamese media. "We are always ready for this cooperation," he said.
In fact, in recent years Thanh Nien has acknowledged the importance of regional media cooperation and has set up a representative office in Thailand," said Khoi, "In addition, even before the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community Thanh Nien last November launched the ASEAN page, available three days per week, providing readers with articles … [Read more...] about Thanh Nien, Thai newspaper Matichon go ahead with cooperation deal

Thai people in North Western Vietnam have a unique and delicious dish of fresh water fish indispensable at their traditional weddings.
Having lived for centuries at the foot of the mountains and by the rivers or streams they have many of their customs and traditions connected with the rivers, streams and rice cultivation, like praying for rain, worshipping the thuong luong (a dragon-like river monster) and splashing water over people on New Year's Day, not to mention legends about young lovers. Fish, easy to catch from the rivers and streams, have become a special dish of the Thai ethnic community, especially on special occasions such as weddings or funerals. It is called pa bẳng (salted fish) and pa hắp (baked-dry fish), or "bẳng hắp" in short often brought by the groom's family to the bride's house at a traditional Thai wedding. The Pa bẳng is made from delicious fresh water fish such as cá xinh, cá khuy or cá chép (carp). The fish is first cleaned and mixed with salt, crushed … [Read more...] about Fresh water fish â a special dish at Thai wedding

Although Vietnamese culture is heavily influenced by India and China, it is still quite distinct.
Stretch your eyes beyond the S-shape of Viet Nam to the north of the Yangxi River in China, or to the west until the Indian northeast state of Assam, or eastward to the Philippines waters, Hawaii and even Madagascar in Africa, or southward to the Pacific Islands, and it is not difficult to see landscapes and people similar to that of Viet Nam.
More surprises might well be unveiled if one undertakes a deeper exploration.
In fact, if one goes back into history until the prehistoric times, one would find out that this region was a unique and undivided culture-historical area. Inhabitants of this region were the masters of a civilisation with distinct shades of colour compared with two other civilisations in its vicinity, ie. the Chinese civilisation in the North and the Indian civilisation in the South, despite the deep influences that both civilizations have had in Southeast Asia.
Today, … [Read more...] about Vietnam – a microcosm of Asian culture

On the occasion of the 100th birthday of General Vo Nguyen Giap, we would like to introduce an article by Tran Manh Thuong, a lecturer of the Stage and Cinematography University. Thuong, a fellow-countryman with General Giap, has collected photos and documentation about the legendary general for dozens of years.
The boy named Vo Nguyen Giap was born in the flood season, on August 25, 1911, in a shed under the shadow of an old jackfruit tree.
The little boy Giap was a member of the Vo family, a big one in An Xa village, Loc Thuy commune, Le Thuy district in the central province of Quang Binh. His family has seven brothers and sisters. As the eldest brother and sisters died young, the family then had three daughters and two sons - Vo Nguyen Giap and Vo Thuan Nho, who was Deputy Minister of Education later.
The boy Giap's parents are Mr. Vo Quang Nghiem and Mrs. Nguyen Thi Kien. As a prestigious teacher in the region, Mr. Nghiem taught Han scripts and then the national language of … [Read more...] about General Vo Nguyen Giap’s little-known facts